Syrian domestic opposition slams unequal-representation at Geneva II

DAMASCUS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Syria's domestically-based National Coordination Body (NCB) on Monday attributed the faltering efforts of the second round of Geneva II conference to the unequal-representation of the Syrian opposition forces.

"The second round of talks in the Geneva II conference has ended with an abject failure as it happened during the first round of talks that has also ended without tangible results even on the humanitarian aspects," Ahmad Esrawi, a member of the NCB, the main political opposition group inside Syria, told a press conference.

He attributed the failure of the talks so far to a lack of representation of all the opposition forces, mainly his group, which has been excluded from the peace talks in Geneva.

"The failure reasons are many and the most important one is that the opposition delegation doesn't represent all of the opposition forces inside and outside Syria. The lack of representation, the absence of mutual trust, the mutual accusations and the dispute over priorities largely hinder the negotiation process and deepen the failure factors of the conference," he said.

Meanwhile, the NCB charged that the countries that support the exiled Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the sole delegation of the opposition to the Geneva conference, were behind the NCB exclusion.

During the press conference, Esrawi also mentioned the NCB's recent meeting with members of the SNC in Cairo, stressing that negotiations between various opposition groups must continue in order to ensure wider representation of the opposition in the conference.

The second round negotiations of the Geneva II international conference on Syria concluded on Saturday noon without achieving any tangible results, UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said earlier.

Brahimi noted that a proposed agenda for the next round of talks was agreed between delegates of the Syrian government and the opposition, but stopped short of giving the exact date.

During the past two rounds of talks in Geneva, the Syrian government side insisted on taking the halt of violence and terrorism as a top priority, while the opposition focused on establishing a transitional governing body with full executive authority and without any role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.